


because other sports don't have a point

by Kira_Gold



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Fencing, Fluff, It's a fencing club AU, M/M, Multi, Plot-less essentially, don't expect this to update regularly, eventual ships, friendships, i need my voltron babies to be safe&happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 20:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12395208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kira_Gold/pseuds/Kira_Gold
Summary: Takashi Shirogane doesn't know exactly why did he apply for a job as a fencing coach. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was luck, maybe it was boredom. One thing which he does know for a fact, however, is that this was one of the best decisions in his life so far — and he has made many. So why ponder about the reasons?alternatively known as "a fencing club AU because i am projecting"





	because other sports don't have a point

**Author's Note:**

> there are theee weapons in fencing: foil, sabre and épée. fencing "court" is called a piste or a strip. that's about all the "terminology" i've used here lmao

Takashi Shirogane was contemplating his life. 

Most of the time, actually, but especially right now, as he melancholically watched Allura dash around the fencing gallery in attempts to find the med kit which someone (probably Keith) left lying around hell knows where after the last session. The bruise on Shiro’s right arm was getting darker with each passing second, and honestly, he needed to give Allura some credit for it: the girl had inhumane strength. 

Speaking of Allura, she kneeled down on the floor next to him pretty soon, a tube of anti-bruising cream in her hands. 

“I am so sorry!” she exclaimed again, looking at his arm worriedly. “I didn’t think– I just– I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s no problem,” Shiro assured her, taking the cream and applying it to his bruise, hissing a bit at its coolness. “Really, Allura, I’ve had worse injuries.”

“But still!” she exclaimed. “I should’ve payed more attention!”

“Here’s a lesson for the future then,” Shiro shrugged. “Next time you’ll know not to lunge forward when you’ve already got your point and really don’t have to hurt your opponent further.”

“It’s kind of a miracle you didn’t snap the sword, man!” Pidge added, approaching them from behind, her mask under her arm. “Seriously, Allura, I love you, but I’m scared of you most of the time.”

“Yeah…” Allura muttered, ashamed. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”

“No you won’t,” Pidge deadpanned, giggling. “Everyone here has had bruises from you already. In some way it’s like Shiro’s initiation!”

“Where, into a club of people who were annihilated by Allura’s fencing skill?” Shiro chuckled. “I thought I’m already an honorary member.”

“Please,” Allura crossed her arms, blushing. “I’ve beaten you about thirty times in two years. That’s nothing.”

“Still more than everyone else put together,” Pidge laughed, then waved over at Lance who has been waiting for her to come back onto the piste. “Anyways, I better go try to beat McClain again, Shiro, don’t die, please.”

“I’m sure it’s not that serious,” the man chuckled. “Allura, can you please go referee Lance and Katie? You can be the coach for today’s lesson since you put the actual coach out of action.”

“Of course!” Allura nodded, hopping up. “And I really am sorry, Shiro.”

“Again, it’s absolutely fine.”

He smiled at her, receiving a smile back, and not in a few seconds Allura was already skipping over to the strip where Lance and Pidge were waiting for her. “En garde!” he heard her exclaim. “Prêt? Allez!”. Pidge immediately sprung into motion, while Lance assumed the defensive position and Allura called out something about footwork, and really, it was nothing new. 

Nothing new for the last two years at least. Shiro’s life was an average one, frankly – he finished high school, then got a degree in a reasonably prestigious university, but never actually gotten a proper full time job, choosing to instead just do whatever arises. And it paid well most of the time, be it tutoring children, working in a taxi or just helping out as a tour guide in a space museum nearby, all the halls and exhibits of which he knew better than his college major. One day he came across a job offer for coaching in a fencing club around half an hour away from his house – and that, to put it briefly, is how he ended up sitting against the wall of the same fencing club two years later with a massive bruise on his forearm. 

First he was just giving individual lessons to whomever signed up, which was reasonably interesting in itself, but then the club owner decided to organize some sort of a free evening activity for any aspiring fencers to try out – because he felt charitable, Shiro assumed. And since Takashi has proven himself to be reasonably good at supervising group sessions, they assigned him to take charge over it. 

Quite a few people showed up on the first day when the club was announced, but only two stayed since then. First one was Allura, the exact one who was now scolding Lance for being distracted and getting hit “in exactly the same way twice in a row, Lance, seriously?”. Allura was good, to the point where she didn’t exactly need coaching – though occasionally Shiro did manage to notice and point out a few mistakes in her fencing style – but still found the club a fun evening activity after university lectures. She studied something along the lines of Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, and Shiro could only admire her, really, for how she still managed to stay so enthusiastic and passionate about a hobby. 

The second one was Keith Kogane, a boy of now eighteen, who fenced sabre since he was around twelve according to himself. He was good too – perhaps not Allura levels of good, but reasonably decent, to the point where he did manage to put up a challenging fight against Shiro. Not to say he won often, but his skill was still quite impressive. He did make mistakes, he got mad when people pointed them out too, and Shiro didn’t really think he would stick around for longer than a few months – and yet here he was right now, fencing Hunk on a piste next to Lance and Pidge. Shiro didn’t regret having him around one bit. 

The next person from their so-called squad to show up was a little girl called Katie Holt who, when she figured out that long hair is quite uncomfortable in a fencing mask, cut it short with barely any remorse. She insisted people call her Pidge, made Shiro teach her épée fencing from scratch (though still preferred foil to this day), and really just made their evenings way more interesting than they would’ve been without her. Shiro had his doubts at first, alright – she didn’t _seem_ like a fighter – but boy did she prove him wrong. 

Hunk Garret appeared around a week after Pidge (or rather was dragged to the training by her) and, frankly, as Lance liked to joke, was the only reason they weren’t all dead by now. He was quite good at fencing, using his height and size to his full advantage, and extremely good at baking, showing up occasionally with a bag of homemade cookies which everyone absolutely adored. Though it took Shiro some time to actually get him to attack people instead of simply trying to wait for them to make mistakes (a strategy that was perfect for Pidge, sure, but not for someone as tall as Hunk), by now he was, really, their squad’s irreplaceable member. 

And last but not least by a long shot was Lance McClain. He moved to the city a year ago, caught wind of the fencing club and just showed up one day, own kit, own swords and a wide grin. Flirted with Allura for a bit, then got beaten up by her in a fight, flirted some more; discovered that he and Pidge are basically platonic soulmates and spend half an hour chanting song lyrics with her; got into two arguments with Keith and demanded Shiro to teach him sabre so he can beat up “Mullet over there” fairly, since in épée Lance was clearly superior; and then spent the rest of the session joking around and cuddling with Hunk, declaring him “a perfect human being”. Lance fit in perfectly, and Shiro couldn’t really believe anymore that at some point they got on without him. 

And sure, he himself was meant to be their coach, a serious man who gave tips and offered study sessions, pointed out mistakes and kept neutrality when it came to any brawls. But he just couldn’t stick to that image most of the time, participating in arguments and laughing along at Lance’s jokes, helping Pidge with English homework which she brought along to sessions because she was “drowning in work, but still wanted to see Allura beat up Lance again”, listening to Keith rant about something in his school, and talking to Hunk about that TV show they both watched last night. He couldn’t stick to it, not really, because when it came to people like the ones in the squad, nobody could have: they were just too contagious with their friendship and inside jokes. 

Shiro didn’t mind though, not in the very least. He couldn’t say that there were never moments when he was exhausted from all the noise, that he never wanted to just leave the hall when Keith and Lance’s pointless argument escalated to the point where one was ready to punch the other (you’d think with swords around nobody would turn to punches to resolve disputes, but you’d be surprised), and that he never snapped at someone who made one too many stupid jokes. But that was rare: negative memories were drowned out by all the fun times they’ve had in the club, and honestly–

“Shiro!”

Takashi looked up, startled, at Pidge jumping around on the strip, clapping excitedly. Lance had his arms crossed in fake annoyance, but was clearly smiling as Katie ran up to where Shiro was sitting, not even bothering to unplug her wire: 

“I won! Fifteen – thirteen, I actually won!” 

“Well done!” he smiled happily at her. “Counterattacks I expect?”

“Yeah,” she giggled. “Thanks for the advice, by the way, I now know what to do with him!”

“You gave her advice and not me?” Lance yelled from the strip, gasping in fake offence. Shiro laughed:

“You didn’t ask. Anyways, Pidge, good job. Are you fencing anyone now?”

“Nah, Lance challenged Allura again. They need a referee and I wanna watch the slaughter,” she chuckled. “Later!”

“Have fun,” Shiro shook his head with a grin, watching her run back to the piste and motion for the fencers to get into positions. 

Honestly, applying for this job two years ago was his best decision yet.


End file.
